ATOC 181 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Royal Institute Of Chemistry, Centrifugal Force, Coriolis Force

• School: McGill University
• Department: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
• Course: ATOC 181
• Professor: Andreas Zuend

Document Summary

- topics: 1) pressure and pressure gradients: role of temperature differences for pressure gradients; 2) surface and upper-level weather charts: force balance and horizontal winds, geostrophic wind; gradient wind; surface wind; = weight of overlying air column per unit area; Note: 1. (horizontally) the heating and cooling of air columns cause horizontal pressure variations at the surface and aloft. These variations force the air to move from areas of higher p to lower p; 2. (vertically) in conjunction with the above horizontal air motions, the air slowly sinks above the surface high and rises above the surface low; 1) (gas law: pressure = density temperature) the surface air pressure drops as the air temperature rises, and vice versa; 2) the largest pressure difference (~2. 5hpa, rise and fall twice a day) occurs near the equator, while a smaller difference shows up in higher latitudes;